A “powerful” solution from China to Europe

When Alstom needed to ship boiler components they turned to Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics for help.

Published: 6/10/2014Author:William Ross

For this kind of cargo, it was very convenient to use WWL

When Alstom, a world leader in power plant equipment, needed to make its first-ever shipment of boiler components, for a new Power Plant Project, from Shanghai, China, to Bremerhaven, Germany, they turned to Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL). With more than 40 years serving break-bulk customers, WWL had the expertise required.

The Alstom equipment was destined for a coal-fired power plant in Northern Europe. “It’s quite a large project, involving two 750-megawatt units for a major power station being built by the German company RWE,” says Adamo Pitzalis, Project Manager for Alstom Power Logistics. “This is the first time for us to ship this kind of equipment from the Wuhan Boiler Company (WBC) factory in Wuhan to Shanghai, and then to Europe.”

The project involved two shipments of several large components. The units, which look like a set of steel tubes welded together and set in a steel cradle, are more than 12 metres long, up to 3.5 metres wide and more than 1.9 metres tall. The first shipment included 28 such units, and 30 in the next shipment.

Given the size and shape of the units, they required special handling for their trip around the world. WWL’s solution involved transporting the units on mafi trailers, which can be rolled up the ramp of the vessel, safely tied down on the ship, then rolled off again at the destination.

“For this kind of cargo, it was very convenient to use WWL because of their safety, efficiency and ability to provide a solution ideal for these components,” Pitzalis says. “We loaded the materials onto WWL’s mafi trailers in advance, so we had everything ready to go well before the vessel arrived. The size was also right – we didn’t pay for any empty space.”

Although this was the first shipment of its kind for WBC, Pitzalis says everything went well. “It was a very smooth shipment, thanks to the expertise at Wuhan. I was there early on to check everything, as we normally do with a first shipment out of a factory for a new project.”

It was on a previous trip to Wuhan that Pitzalis and his colleagues selected WWL to carry the two shipments. “The service they provide for project cargo in China is excellent – very dedicated, professional, reliable and competitive.”

Charlie Ge, Sales Manager Break Bulk for WWL in Shanghai, agrees that the project went well. “Handling the product was actually quite easy,” he says. “And since Alstom has other joint ventures in China, I hope we can work with them in the future.”

About AlstomThe boiler equipment WWL transported from China to Europe was just one example of the total energy solutions offered by Alstom. Headquartered in Paris, France, the company employs 93,500 people in some 100 countries around the world, and is the world leader in integrated power plants for the production of electricity and air quality control systems. It is estimated, in fact, that one-quarter of the world’s power production capacity depends on Alstom technology and services. For boilers, that figure rises to 30 percent of all boilers installed or under construction worldwide, which together produce some 835 gigawatts of power.